Small Mammal House

Although it's true that mammals come in all shapes and sizes, a majority of them are small and are active mostly at night - nocturnal. You don't have to stay up past your bedtime to see nocturnal animals at the Zoo! The nocturnal wing of the Small Mammal House switches day and night; so when the Zoo is closed and you're tucked into bed, the lights in the nocturnal wing come on. Since the animals think it's daytime, they go to sleep. When you wake up in the morning, the lights in our building shut off. The animals think it's night, and they come out to search for food.

The building also contains some not-so-small mammals like an aardvark and a family of two-toed sloths, but don't expect a lot of activity from these residents. Two-toed sloths can sleep up to 18 hours in a 24-hour day and only go to the bathroom about once a week! Bathroom time is about the only time a sloth comes down to the ground.